“There are a wide variety of things in the air. Some are natural, some are manmade,” said Russell Luepker, M.D., a cardiologist and the Mayo professor in the School of Health at the University of Minnesota. “We are all exposed, to a certain degree Effects May Be Immediate or Longer-TermAcute short-term effects of air pollution tend to strike people who are elderly or already struggling with heart disease, said Dr. Luepker, who is also an epidemiologist.